CRACK! CRACK!

A cracking noise rang through the night.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The sounds were becoming more frantic as if they went on.

CRACK! CRACK CRACK!

?: "No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums! No more drums!"

They repeated those words over and over, begging the noise to stop.

CRACK! CRACK! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

Finally, the cracking noise stopped as the sound of flesh being squashed replaced it.

October 16th, 2009

The next day, Naru, Brook, and Artoria went into the city to meet the members of the Infinite Path. Artoria in particular was wearing the clothes that Shirou had brought for her. She had a white shirt with a blue ribbon around her collar. On her lower body, she wore a blue skirt with pantyhose and brown boots on her feet.

Brook: "I gotta say, Saber. Shirou has some good fashion sense."

Naru: "Yeah, you look good."

Artoria: "Oh? Is this your attempt to flirt with me, Naru?"

Naru: "Don't worry, I'm not trying to steal you from Shirou. Besides, I prefer women with more meat on their chests-"

SMACK!

Naru: "Ouch! Hey, I'm sorry if you can't handle the cold-hearted truth!"

Brook: "Putting that aside, what is our plan?"

Naru: "Well first, we are going to visit Taro and have him make you guys official members of the gang."

Artoria: "Official? I thought we merely had to join, and that was that."

Naru: "Saber, you're taking the term 'gang' a bit literally. We may look like a bunch of juvenile delinquents fighting each other (which we technically are) but we are an organization fighting to protect the city. The same goes for the other gangs."

Artoria: "I see. I apologize for my rudeness."

Naru: "No problem we all make mistakes sometimes- Hmm? Brook? Are you listening?"

Brook wasn't paying attention. Rather, she was looking down an alleyway with a look of terror on her face.

Naru: "Brook? What's wrong?"

She pointed down the alleyway. Naru and Saber looked in and saw what she was looking at. Hanging from the side of the apartment by a shirt that had been wrapped around his neck.

Naru: "Oh my god! That's Riku, the cashier from Izo's Department Store!"

Brook: "What…happened to him?"

Naru: "Isn't it obvious? He hung himself."

Brook: "W-why?"

Naru: "He must have had an especially bad day. He's always looked miserable today must have been his tipping point."

Brook: "I don't understand! Why would someone do this?

Naru: "Simple, to get away. Sekoyoma is completely isolated from the rest of the world. If you're failing to make a living here, you can't leave the city to start a business elsewhere. Once you are born here, you're a prisoner. The only way for citizens to escape this place…is for them to kill themselves."

Brook and Artoria stared at the Riku's body in silence as they listened to Naru's grim words.

Naru: "Let's get moving. There is nothing we can do for him now."

Naru left the alleyway followed by Brook. Artoria stayed behind to look at Riku's body a bit longer.

Artoria: "Rest assured, you will not be forgotten."

The three of them eventually arrived at Izo's, where they were greeted by the kind old man.

Izo: "Good morning Naru! You seem in a much better mood today!"

Naru: "Let's just say something new came up that just may tip the scales in the Infinite Path's favor."

Izo: "I see, does it have anything to do with the young ladies behind you?"

Naru: "You could say that. Saber, Brook, this is Mr. Izo. He runs this department store, which serves as our base of operations."

Izo: "A pleasure. By the way, have any of you seen Riku? He is running late and I can't seem to contact him."

Artoria: "..."

Brook: "..."

Naru: "I'm sorry sir, but Riku is dead. He committed suicide outside his apartment."

Mr. Izo frowned and looked down at the floor.

Izo: "That's…quite unfortunate. I was going to promote him today for doing such a good job, but it looks like he couldn't take it long enough. What a shame."

Izo wiped a single tear from his eye before getting himself together.

Izo: "Anyways, Taro is waiting for you downstairs as usual."

Naru: "Got it. Sorry for upsetting you Mr. Izo."

Izo: "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you informed me. Take care!"

The three headed downstairs while Izo began to clean up Riku's belongings from the cashier's booth…

Taro: "You ate my sandwich!"

When the three went down to the basement, they saw Rei and Taro arguing while Yui was playing obnoxiously loud rock music and Zero was doing pushups with one are

Rei: "No I didn't! I don't even eat that crap!"

Taro: "I know you did it! You're the only suspect who could've done it!"

The two eventually escalated into wrestling each other and rolling around on the ground.

Artoria: "...Is it…always like this?"

Naru: "It does start to happen Hey dickheads! I'm back!"

The two stopped to look at Naru and then looked at each other. They quickly got up and got into their respective spots. Yui turned off her boom box, and Zero got up into a standing position. The four of them pretended that none of that happened.

Taro: "Hello Naru. Nice to have you back! I see you brought some new friends."

Naru: "Yes I did. The one on my left is Brook Hackerman. She's the stupid one."

Brook walked up to Taro and shook his hand very aggressively.

Brook: "Hi Taro! I'm Brook Hackerman, straight from Detroit! I like science, cryptids, and breaking the 4th wall!"

Taro: "Oh, so you're American! You speak Japanese very well!"

Brook: "Why thank you! Language has always been my strong suit! I can also speak Spanish, French, Russian, and Pig Latin."

Naru: "Pig Latin doesn't count as a language!"

Brook: "Reay ouyay uresay boutay atthay?

Taro: "A-anyways, did you bring your servant?"

Naru: "Yep, and here she is."

Artoria walked up to Taro and shook his hand.

Artoria: "Greetings! Taro, was it? It is a pleasure to meet you."

Taro: "The pleasure's all mine. I mean, it's not every day you get to meet King Arthur!"

Artoria turned around and glared at Naru.

Naru: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Artoria: "You told them my true name?"

Naru: "Well…yeah. We are going to be working together."

Rei: "Holy shit! She is a girl!"

Naru: "Yeah. I told you this during the briefing."

Rei: "Yeah, but you didn't tell us she was a babe though! Like damn! This Shirou guy is lucky!"

Artoria once again glared at Naru.

Artoria: "How much did you tell them?"

Naru: "...Pretty much everything."

Artoria sighed before turning her attention back to Taro.

Artoria: "So, Naru has informed me that I need to speak to you to become an 'official' member of the Infinite Path if I'm not mistaken."

Taro: "You are half right. I will allow you to officially join the Infinite Path, but only after you've proven your trust by completing a few assignments."

Artoria: "I understand."

Taro: "Before you do that, however, there are a few things you must know since you are new to Sekoyoma."

Artoria: "Very well. Since I taught Naru about the Holy Grail War, it is only fair that you teach me about Sekoyoma."

Brook: "I agree! Spill the beans Mustang!"

Taro: "R-right. The first thing you need to know about Sekoyoma is the gangs. There are five major gangs in Sekoyoma. The Broken Chain, the Oe Cult, the Silver Tongue, the Toxic Mind, and the Infinite Path, which is us. Each of these gangs controls different parts of the city and is constantly fighting for control. If one of them wins, 'The Boss' will grant them complete control of the city. Got that so far?"

Artoria: "I see, so it is similar to Britain after the Romans left. Alright, I can work with this."

Taro: "I thought you might. The next thing you should know about Sekoyoma is street titles. Here is a word of advice. If you meet someone on the street with a title, it means they are the most dangerous person in Sekoyoma. Street titles are given to those who have proved themselves to be much stronger than your average thug."

Artoria: "Street titles? That is an interesting concept. Rather than calling these unique individuals one thing like 'king' or 'emperor' this allows them to call themselves whatever they want without being placed under a specific group! That's genius!"

Taro: "Kind of. There are a few restrictions 'The Boss' set when it comes to street titles. First, a street title has to start with the word 'the.' Second, the chosen street title must relate to you in some way, like your appearance, your abilities, or your reputation. And three, you can't name yourself after the city. For example, my street title is 'The Smoker' due to my smoking magecraft."

Rei: "No, it's because he chain-smokes cigarettes like a madman!"

Taro: "Shut it!"

Artoria: "You can't name yourself after the city? What about Naru? Isn't his street title 'The Sekoyoma Ripper?'"

Naru: "Well, I'm a special case. You see, only a single person can claim the city's name for themselves, and that person is me."

Taro: "Only a person who embodies the very soul of Sekoyoma. Someone who represents both the darkness in the city as well, as the hope found within. And the person who fits this description is Naru. In just five years, he had reached the peak of power and reputation and claimed the title of 'The Sekoyoma Ripper,' the most dangerous man in the city."

Artoria: "Naru? The most dangerous? That is not what I would expect from someone as sweet as him."

Naru: "Yeah, well people aren't thinking that when I have my skull mask on and stabbing the shit out of them. Before I claimed the city's title, I was simply known as 'The Ripper."

Brook: "You know, back in Detroit, I knew someone very similar to Naru. They had a street title like you guys."

Taro: "Really? Who?"

Brook: "I don't know their name, but they called themselves 'The Knuckleduster!' They were feared throughout the streets of Detroit and put multiple people in the hospital with bruises and broken bones. The doctors who examined them said that the injuries were caused by someone wearing a knuckleduster over their fingers. However, that wasn't the case. Those injuries…were caused by someone's bare hands!"

Rei: "Yikes! This 'Detroit' sounds like a second Sekoyoma! It even has its own Sekoyoma Ripper!"

Naru: "Now you're telling me there are copycats of me in foreign countries? What the fuck!"

Taro turned his attention back to Artoria.

Taro: "Getting back on track, the last thing you need to know is to watch who you trust. I cannot stress this enough. Nothing in Sekoyoma is as it seems. If you trust the wrong person, even a servant like you might end up dead."

Artoria: "Rest assured, I will be careful."

Brook: "Ok! Now that we've gotten through this giant exposition dump, what's the plan?"

Taro laid out a map of Sekoyoma across the table.

Taro: "We plan to repel the Oe Cult. They've recently become more aggressive and have claimed several out territories. Your first assignment is to take it back. We're going to split into teams. The first team will consist of-"

Artoria: "No."

Everyone turned their heads.

Taro: "Huh? What did you say?"

Artoria: "I don't agree with this battle plan, we'll end up falling into their trap."

Taro: "Trap? How is this a trap?"

Aroria: "Here is a question. Who are the Oe Cult and what do they value?"

Taro: "The Oe Cult is the second-largest gang in Sekoyoma. They worship the demon god Amanozaku and they wear Hannya masks which give them the powers of oni. They are led by the Akuma Doji who is half-oni due to his ancestry. They value human sacrifice, cannibalism, blood, and performing sexual acts with children."

Brook: "So…they're Nambla?"

Taro: "Now that I told you this, I have to ask, what does this have to do with my plan?"

Artoria put her finger on the map.

Artoria: "Look at the map. Have they claimed any territories important to them? Are these territories important to the Oe Cult's values?"

Taro finally understood what she was saying.

Taro: "No. No, they're not. These territories mostly consist of empty apartment buildings."

Yui: "I don't understand. Why would they claim territory with no use to them whatsoever?"

Artoria: "It's like I said, it's a trap. They are trying to lure your strongest fighters so that they can claim your home base as their own."

Rei: "What? No way! How do you know?"

Artoria: "Because I used the same tactics when laying siege to fortresses."

Everyone stared with a look of shock on their face after listening to Artoria's military knowledge.

Taro: "Holy shit, you're right! Dammit! Why didn't I notice this sooner?"

Artoria: "Do not blame yourself Taro. Only experienced military commanders would be able to notice such a thing."

Taro: "Alright Saber, since you have much more experience commanding armies than I do, what do you suggest for our next move?"

Artoria: "To bring down an army, One must attack places important to them."

Taro: "Well, the only place the Oe Cult finds important is their home base."

Artoria: "Then that is where we will strike. We will bring them down today!"